Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971.

Human Reproduction
Martin H JohnsonNick Hopwood

Abstract

In 1971, Cambridge physiologist Robert Edwards and Oldham gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe applied to the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) for long-term support for a programme of scientific and clinical 'Studies on Human Reproduction'. The MRC, then the major British funder of medical research, declined support on ethical grounds and maintained this policy throughout the 1970s. The work continued with private money, leading to the birth of Louise Brown in 1978 and transforming research in obstetrics, gynaecology and human embryology. The MRC decision has been criticized, but the processes by which it was reached have yet to be explored. Here, we present an archive-based analysis of the MRC decision. We find evidence of initial support for Edwards and Steptoe, including from within the MRC, which invited the applicants to join its new directly funded Clinical Research Centre at Northwick Park Hospital. They declined the offer, preferring long-term grant support at the University of Cambridge, and so exposed the project to competitive funding mode. Referees and the Clinical Research Board saw the institutional set-up in Cambridge as problematic with respect to clinical facilities and patient management; gave infertility a low prio...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 8, 2013·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·J L H Evers
Apr 20, 2011·Human Reproduction·W Dondorp, G de Wert
Sep 27, 2014·Women's Health·Liza JohannessonMats Brännström
Jun 19, 2014·Human Fertility : Journal of the British Fertility Society·Michael C Summers
Nov 26, 2013·Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences·Salim Al-Gailani
Jan 1, 2013·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·Martin H Johnson
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Feb 1, 2011·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·Richard L Gardner, Martin H Johnson
Jun 17, 2015·Trends in Molecular Medicine·Tetsuya Ishii
Apr 23, 2013·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·Martin H Johnson
May 25, 2011·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·Yulian ZhaoEdward Wallach
Jun 18, 2011·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·Martin H Johnson
Mar 15, 2011·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·Anastasia A Theodosiou, Martin H Johnson
Feb 19, 2013·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·Sarah Franklin
Nov 22, 2018·BJOG : an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology·P R Braude, M H Johnson
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Mar 27, 2019·Medical History·Katharine Dow
Jan 24, 2021·Developmental Biology·Sabitri GhimireAlfonso Martinez Arias

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